The author of Ajay Devgn’s Shaitaan, Aamir Keeyan Khan, is not one to take chances. He adapted Krishnadev Yagnik’s original story.
The movie “Shaitaan” has received a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. The film stars Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan, Jyotika, Janki Bodiwala, and Anngad Raaj, with direction by Vikas Bahl.
Review of Shaitaan: A Script Analysis
Shaitaan, starring Ajay Devgn, is a remake of the Gujarati film Vash (2023). The story was already written, so the filmmakers just needed to modify it to suit the tastes of the Hindi filmgoers. If one ignores the first twenty minutes, which are largely devoted to the family drama, the first half is quite good. Throughout the entire sequence, I felt like Drishyam. However, the story becomes more intense as Vanraj appears in the scenes.
The tension builds nicely as Kabir and his family are perplexed by Vanraj’s actions. Janvi, their daughter, acts strangely as well, listening only to him and following his directions to do damaging things. You’re intrigued by Vanraj’s plans and curious about how terrifying the narrative will go. A couple of the scenes—one with the cops and another on a swing—are thrilling and impressive. You are also fully immersed in what is happening and how the story will develop during the interval block.
The story becomes seriously stuck, leaving us eager for resolutions. The Shaitaan’s desires are known to us, but we are never told why. The final thirty minutes are badly done, and it seems so simple to give Kabir and his family a happy ending. Reluctant to take chances is writer Aamir Keeyan Khan, who adapted Krishnadev Yagnik’s original story for the Ajay Devgn film. As a result, one feels the absence of terror in this horror film very strongly.
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Review of Shaitaan the Movie: Star Performance
As Vanraj, R Madhavan gives you the creeps on multiple occasions by adding mystery, spookiness, and an eerie atmosphere to the narrative. Actors sometimes overact. What we saw in the Drisyham films is expanded upon in Ajay Devgn’s portrayal of Kabir. The only thing lacking from this situation is Vijay Salgaonkar’s cunning side. Ajay does a good job in his role, but the narrative doesn’t give him much opportunity to shine. As Janvi, Janki Bodiwala is yet another exceptional performer; she skillfully strikes a balance between being scared and possessed. Jyotika does a passable job as well, but like Ajay’s character, she is shallow.
Shaitaan movie review: score and direction
Director Vikas Bahl has a talent for creating a spooky atmosphere in the settings. A story like this had an appropriate setup: a farmhouse outside of the city surrounded by a thick forest, monsoon season, thunderous showers, and constant rain. He gives Vanraj a spooky appearance in some scenes, which makes you fear for Janvi. Overall though, he doesn’t treat the story with the respect it merits. You are let down by the Queen director’s poor climax camera work, which ends with a tease. When there are almost no scary elements, the whole Shaitaan concept is thrown into dust.
I once thought that Vanraj was a man involved in the sex trafficking of young girls rather than a devil in disguise. I believe the term “shaitaan” to be a description of those who engage in such horrible criminal activity. However, even that is untrue. An unpleasant second half spoils the somewhat exciting first half.
Amit Trivedi wrote the soundtrack for the movie. Even the title track and the background music for the movie were excellent. But the excellent soundtrack does little to increase the intensity of the merely passable narrative.
Review of Shaitaan: The Final Word
Shaitaan had a lot of potential to be a fantastic supernatural thriller all around. The story is passable in the first half but becomes a disorganized and clumsy mess in the second. You feel cheated because you don’t receive the anticipated and important answers, and the climax leaves you with a bad aftertaste.
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